events and updates

Upcoming Events﻿

House to Vote on Innovative Communities Bill - Date TBDAfter the Senate voted to pass the bill on July 30th, the House will put the bill to a vote.

Past Events

July 30, 2015: Senate Passes Innovative Communities BillState HouseThe Senate overwhelming voted in favor of the Innovative Communities bill on Thursday. This is a major achievement and a result of the strong support for this initiative.

July 24, 2015: Bill Reported Favorably Out of CommitteeState HouseThe Innovative Communities Bill was reported FAVORABLY out of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, an important milestone before the bill is put to a vote and a testament to the strong support for this bill demonstrated during the hearings.

June 10, 2015 and July 15, 2015: Economic Development and Emerging Technologies Committee Hearing State HouseThe Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies held hearings on the Innovative Communities Bill at the State House. These hearings were open to the public and individuals from across the innovation community were their to show their support and provide testimony.

May 5, 2015: Unveiling of Innovative Communities LegislationWorkbar Boston﻿On Tuesday May 5th, we formally unveiled the Innovative Communities legislation to the startup community, launched the new website for the Innovative Communities initiative, and answered questions about the legislation.﻿

April 15, 2015:Senate Refers BillThe Senate refers the bill to the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies for review

January 20, 2015: House Refers BillThe House refers the bill to the Joint Committee on State Administration and Regulatory Oversight for review

January 12, 2015: Innovative Communities Open Working GroupState House Following the Idea-a-thon event, we hosted an open working group meeting at the State House. A draft of the legislation was distributed and legislators, entrepreneurs, investors, lawyers, representatives and others from across the public and private sectors joined to provide feedback and discuss the proposed bill.

November 5, 2014: MA Tech Hub Caucus Idea-a-thonPayPal Boston Less than 24 hours after we elected the next Governor and many new Senators and Representatives, over 100 leaders from the startup, government, and innovation communities had the opportunity to shape tech policy through a single evening "idea-a-thon." The session was hosted by the Legislature's Tech Hub Caucus Co-Chairs Senator Karen Spilka and Representative Ann-Margaret Ferrante. By the end of the evening, we developed a list of new ideas for Massachusetts State Government to drive growth of the innovation ecosystem. Innovative Communities was selected as the winning idea by a panel of judges including: